Understanding the bible – Eastertide3 Thursday

‘Tell me, is the prophet referring to himself or someone else?’ This is not a stupid question. The eunuch in our story is in a situation many of our young people find themselves in: an essentially pre-Christian one. What’s interesting is that we see that the eunuch is asking this question despite, and in fact because of, his reading of the bible. Clearly, far from being a simple instruction book, the bible is a much more complex, multilayered text that raises questions within us. These questions are not wrong or stupid: they are a sign that I am actually reading the bible properly, that is, with an open heart, open to being disturbed in my usual way of thinking. It is also why there is not much point justifying a belief by simply saying “the bible says so”. We only know the bible is the Word of God because the living body of Christ, the Church, says as much. This makes sense: it is after all the Church who wrote it. Let us never be afraid to read the Word of God to us, and also to check with the Church what Jesus is trying to say.